


How To Become a Magical Girl

by notbug (KageKashu)



Category: Bleach
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Gender Confusion, where Kon's concerned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-10
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-01-24 04:38:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1591937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KageKashu/pseuds/notbug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Ichigo gone for two weeks, Karin was the one in his room that night, starting a chain of events that changes everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Step 1 - Acquire Powers

**Author's Note:**

> Certain things Rukia says are pulled directly from the English translation of the Bleach manga.

Without her older brother present, Karin rather thought that the Kurosaki household got a little too quiet. Why Ichigo had to go on the stupid two week long college tour, she wasn't sure, but with him gone... 

Downstairs, she could hear Goat Face pleading with her twin for another serving from the kimichi hot pot dinner that she'd made. Yuzu was standing her ground pretty well, so Karin didn't have to interfere on her sister's behalf. If Yuzu got too upset, she would go down and kick Goat Face right in his stupid goat beard, but... it didn't sound like it was going to be necessary. Their dad was missing Ichigo too, and didn't seem to have the energy required to hustle more dinner from his daughter. "Weird way of showing it," she muttered into her brother's pillow. Ichigo had called over an hour before, and while they had all fought over their share of phone time, Ichigo had seemed distracted. 

Goat Face, of course, didn't take that well. After they'd gotten off of the phone, the man had broken down crying, saying, "We're losing him! He won't want to come back now, after seeing such exciting foreign pastures..!" 

Ichigo had been calling from Nerima, which was, like Karakura, a part of Tokyo. "Moron," she huffed, hugging the pillow. Ichigo had been gone for _days_ now. Well, actually, he'd been gone for the better part of twenty four hours, but it sure seemed like days. 

The only good thing she could think of about him being gone like that was that there were less ghosts hanging around the house. Not that Karin believed in ghosts. As long as she denied to their faces that they existed, they may as well not exist. The ghost of a salaryman proved her point as she ignored his presence over her left shoulder. "Excuse me, miss..." 

Well, she would ignore him for as long as it took. "Leave me alone; you don't exist," she grunted, shoving her face further into Ichigo's pillow. 

"So cold..." he whined, sliding to the floor. 

"Oh shut up," Karin snapped, sitting up. She might give that exorcism thing a try, if the ghost didn't leave on its own. How did Ichigo stand it? Normally, she could just foist the suckers off on her brother, but with him being gone for the next two weeks, she was going to have to deal with them on her own. Wait... There was a butterfly in Ichigo's room. "What are you doing in here?" She got up, planning to catch it and release it outside; however, when the girl stepped through the wall, she froze. Was that..? Did Ichigo have a girlfriend? 

"It's close," the girl murmured, giving no sign at all that she knew that Karin was in the room with her. 

"No," Karin muttered, "she came through the wall, so she must be a ghost..." On the other hand, it could still be her brother's girlfriend. "At least that way, he wouldn't have to worry about her getting pregnant." It made sense to her, anyway. 

The girl turned to stare at her in shock. "What? What did you say? You... you see me?" 

Karin thought about it for a moment. "Samurai outfit aside, you seem pretty enough, so... I approve!" she announced. "Until he finds a real girl, you can be Ichigo's girlfriend." 

The girl's face reddened, and her teeth grit together. "What? Are you saying that I'm not good enough to be a real girlfriend!? Wait, why am I trying to argue this?" She shook her head, hard. "That's not important." 

"Well," Karin replied, deciding to stick with the second question, "you do know that you're dead, right? There'd be no future. It would be like one of those tragic romances. You're dead, he's alive... it would never work out." 

A flat gaze was turned on her. "Why are you distracting me from my purpose?" 

"I thought you might like to understand your romantic options." Karin scratched her ear, giving the girl the same glare that made Goat Face cry at dinner. 

"I have," growled the girl, "better prospects than... some human boy." 

"I hate to break it to you," Karin said, "but you're human, too. You're just, let's say, living challenged." 

The girl tsked irritably. "I'm not just a ghost," she finally replied, glowering like crazy. "I'm a Soul Reaper, which is a lot higher end than some mere _ghost_." 

Karin stared at her. "So... You're super dead! That means it really is a hopeless romance." 

"Exactly... No! I told you, I have no interest in a human boy!" 

"What would a 'Soul Reaper' be doing in my brother's room if she's not interested in him? Wait, you aren't going to kill him, are you? Because that wouldn't be okay, and it wouldn't allow for future plot development, either!" Karin waved her arms energetically in the supposed Soul Reaper's face. "Unless... Are you that totally into Ichigo that you'd kill him just so you can have him?!" The girl looked like she was choking on something. "In that case," Karin decided, giving the 'Reaper' a thumbs up, "I just might approve. Go get 'em, champ!" 

"I'm not!" she yelled. "I'm not interested in this brother of yours! I'm here for an evil spirit, not your brother! You insolent little..." The girl choked off the rest of the sentence, which, presumably, wasn't meant for ears as young as Karin's. 

Karin had probably heard worse out of Ichigo's mouth. "What do you mean, evil spirit? Ghosts are ghosts. I haven't seen any that I would call _evil_. Irritating, maybe." That said, she glanced over to where the salaryman was shaking in the corner, having apparently decided that Karin wasn't protection enough for him; or wasn't going to protect him, more likely. 

The 'Reaper' sighed and walked over to him. In a lightning fast move, she tapped the end of her sword's hilt on his forehead. The ghost whimpered. "N... no... I... don't want to go to hell!" 

"Do not presume," snapped the 'Reaper'. "What awaits you is not hell. It is the Soul Society. Unlike hell... it is a restful place." 

The ghost faded away, leaving Karin staring in shock. "What... what did you do to him?" 

The Soul Reaper eyed her disdainfully. "I sent him to the Soul Society. I performed konsô, the soul funeral. You call it 'passing on' in your language. It's one of the duties of a Soul Reaper." She leaned toward Karin, frowning. "I'll explain it so that even a child like you can understand. Be silent and listen." 

Karin stuck a finger in one ear to scratch a suddenly developing itch. "Okay..." 

From inside her kimono, the Reaper pulled out pens and paper and started sketching furiously on it. After about a minute, she lifted the picture she had drawn and said, "Now... in this realm, there are two types of souls. The first type is the 'Wholes,' the normal spirits." With this, she indicated one half of the drawing, which was a cute rabbit head against a background of hearts. "The ghosts you know are of this type. Now the other type..." She tapped the other side of the drawing, with what looked like a teddy bear head against a zappy lightning background. "...we call 'Hollows.' Hollows attack the living and the dead indiscriminately, and devour their souls. Hollows are 'evil spirits.' Any questions so far?" 

Karin raised her hand. "You said you're here to take care of an evil spirit, I thought." 

The Soul Reaper gritted her teeth. "Getting to that soon, I promise. We Soul Reapers have two principal duties... First, to conduct Wholes to the Soul Society by means of konsô... And second..." Karin got a bad feeling about this. "...to vaporize Hollows; which is my mission now." 

"So, you mean, there's a Hollow around here somewhere?" asked Karin, her eyebrows puckered together. "Why are you just sitting here, telling me about it, then? Shouldn't you be going and... vaporizing it?" 

The Reaper sighed. "I haven't been able to sense its presence for some time now." She glanced around the room distractedly. 

A shrill, bloodcurdling howl tore through the night, and Karin's hands went to her ears to try to block the sound. _'What is that sound?'_

The Soul Reaper continued on, like she hadn't heard a thing, even though it sounded like it was just outside the window. "It's like there's some force, obstructing my senses..." 

It was nauseating. "Soul Reaper-san, don't you hear that awful sound?" 

The Soul Reaper turned to her. "What sound?" 

Karin couldn't believe it. "What sound? You really can't hear it? That terrible howl? What is it?" 

The Reaper was on her feet instantly. "Terrible howl? Maybe..?" Then she jerked in place, like the sound had only just suddenly started. Then she stared incredulously at Karin, until a loud crash echoed from downstairs, followed closely by the sound of Yuzu screaming. 

"Yuzu!" Karin leapt to her feet and ran for the door alongside the Reaper. "That sound, that's a Hollow?" she asked, and the Reaper glared at her. 

"You need to stay here," she was ordered, but Karin ignored the Reaper and ran for the stairs. 

_'Please, Yuzu, be alright!'_

* * *

For two weeks, Rukia had been in the Kurosaki household. The strong presence of the first night that had clouded her senses had faded. It had diminished to barely anything, until all of a sudden, it was back, and so strong that it felt like she was drowning. She forced herself to breathe through it, and listened to the sound of someone shuffling just outside of her room. An unobtrusive squeak of a mattress was followed by an odd musical sound: probably the instrument that she had seen in the corner of the neighboring room. A young, masculine voice joined the quiet strumming in a soft counterpoint. It was little more than humming, but it was pleasant for being so gentle sounding. 

It was probably Karin's brother, she mused, letting the surprisingly soothing sound relax her nearly to sleep. The melody worked its way into something slightly harsher, and his voice rose slightly, singing in a language that she had heard before, but didn't know. It was still nice, even when she could hear him dancing around with the instrument, still singing loudly. The song, whatever it was, sounded like a fun one, and she found herself tapping her feet to the same rhythm that he was stomping to. The music cut out so abruptly that she almost didn't stop her foot in time to remain unheard. It wasn't that Rukia wasn't supposed to be exactly where she was, but she was pretty sure that the young man in the neighboring room wouldn't see things the way she did. Karin's voice cut through her musings with a happy shriek of "Ichigo!" followed by Yuzu and Goat-Face's exclamations of the same. "I thought you were supposed to be back tonight! It's still early!" 

"I was... It was a surprise," Ichigo's voice replied, sounding slightly strained. "Could you guys lighten up a little, or are you trying to suffocate me? It's only been a couple of weeks! Geez. Seriously, let go. Do you want your presents, or am I donating them to a city college?" There was an odd sound as a group hug was apparently dispersed. 

She could almost hear the Kurosaki family's eagerness, and couldn't help but peer through the crack in the closet door to watch. Yuzu and Karin were easily in her visual range, but all she could see of Ichigo was his hands as he gestured at them. She couldn't see Goat-Face at all. 

"Karin, I couldn't find anything better than this, but since your old one was in such bad shape..." A black and white spotted circle passed through her vision and Karin cheered happily. "And Yuzu... These were everywhere in Kyoto, but I thought you might like it." This time, a small doll was passed to Yuzu, who seemed just as happy as Karin. "Goat-Face... I forgot about you until I was nearly home." Goat-Face actually began crying at this. "Geez, I didn't say I didn't get you anything. Here, take it." Goat-Face stopped crying for long enough to actually look at what his son had brought home, then he started crying again. Even from her illicit hiding place, Rukia could read the banner on the knickknack that said "I <3 Karakura". "I saw it while I was paying for my drink and it made me think of you." Ichigo's tone was so flat that she wasn't sure if he was serious or not. 

Ichigo then shooed his family out of his bedroom and while he did so, Rukia got her first good look at him. He looked nothing like his sisters. His body was lean and muscular, while they still had the slenderness of childhood. Karin's hair was black, like their father's, while Yuzu's was blonde, like the image of their mother. Ichigo, on the other hand, had bright orange hair that stood in unkempt spikes. A scowl marred an unusually delicate face, and for a moment Rukia thought, _'If the girls grow up to be as pretty as their brother, they'll be beating boys off with sticks.'_

If she had been expecting anything, Rukia would be forced to admit that she was expecting something like a blonde version of Goat-Face. Karin had never actually described Ichigo's appearance to her, though she went on and on about how awesome of a brother he was. Rukia spared a thought for her own brother, who she had never really gotten to know. She respected him, certainly, but she couldn't claim to know him. 

Her eyes widened when Ichigo stripped off his shirt, and shifted away from the slight opening so that she couldn't see him anymore. The overwhelming presence was still there, and Rukia came to the obvious conclusion. That powerful energy was emanating from Karin's brother. That was... That was a whole boat-load of not good. If nothing else, Hollows would eventually swarm the young man, because that kind of energy was extremely attractive to the creatures. 

She would warn Karin. Karin deserved the warning. 

* * *

It only took another week for Ichigo to finally notice that someone was living in his closet. Karin was amused. Personally, she thought that he would have found Rukia sooner than later. His reaction was fairly predictable; he dragged her out of the closet, as she dug her fingers into every available surface on the way, to confront their dad about it. Also predictably, Isshin fell for her utterly fake and pathetic sob story about having nowhere else to go, and when Karin confirmed that she was a friend, had announced that he now had a third daughter. Ichigo snarled in response. "Fine, have another daughter, but keep her out of my closet!" Ten minutes later, he pulled Karin aside to ask her how long Rukia had been living in his closet. 

"Since the first day you were gone," she replied. It only took a moment, and the sight of Ichigo's face going pale, either from rage or embarrassment she wasn't sure, to realize that that wasn't the best thing to tell him. A faint hint of green appeared, and Karin realized something else. "I don't think she would have watched you change, Ichigo. She's classier than that!" 

That probably hadn't been the best thing to say either, judging from the bright spots of color added to his cheeks. He was twitching too, eyes wide in that way that people got when they just realized that someone had been observing their every movement for days; not that Karin thought that Rukia was stalking Ichigo, she just knew that Ichigo would come to a conclusion like that. "She's not staying in my closet," he finally said in a surprisingly calm and rational tone. 

And that was that. Except that it wasn't. Rukia didn't want to leave the cozy confines of the closet, but Karin was able to bribe her with juice boxes. 

They were going to have to come up with another method for guarding Ichigo from Hollows. Karin spent a couple nights in there, until Ichigo kicked her out as well. It was a bit of a surprise when he had to kick Goat-Face out, though not so much when he had to send Yuzu back to her own bed. Ichigo's closet was comfortable, and it was a bit of a disappointment that he wouldn't let them sleep in there. The one night that he found all three girls in the closet, he had just closed the door on them and went to sleep at his friend Chad's. 

* * *

"It's possessed," Ichigo told the much larger boy, casually munching on the remains of a bag of popcorn sticks. The cockatiel gave him the saddest look it could. For some reason, on the bird's say-so, they weren't at Chad's home, but in an abandoned warehouse. Their dinner was one of cheap snack food and vending machine tea. 

The bird, which called itself Shibata Yuichi, made a mournful sound. "Please go home, mister. I don't want you to get hurt." 

Ichigo scoffed around the bite, and Chad shrugged silently. "If it's really that bad," Ichigo said, "this thing that's after you, you need help. If Chad wants to help you, I'm all for it." He prodded the bag hopefully and sighed. "We're out," he announced sadly. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was doubtful as to the reality of Yuichi's monster. Admittedly, Chad had been having terrible luck since he had acquired the bird, but that didn't have to mean anything. 

Twenty minutes later, he believed Yuichi's story implicitly, when a demon the likes of which he had never seen burst through the wall and made a swoop at Chad, even as the bird screeched at them to "Run away!" 

* * *

It scared Karin that she could sense her brother in the direction she and Rukia were running. There was a Hollow there, and they had been trying so hard to keep Ichigo from being noticed. It wasn't fair that she wasn't there already, and able to protect her brother. "Ichigo..." she whined, trying to run faster. 

"It's okay, Karin," Rukia said, keeping pace with her easily. "As long as we can sense him, it's okay." 

"You aren't supposed to say that," Karin whimpered. "Whenever you say that in a movie, that's when you suddenly can't do whatever it was you say is okay as long as you can do anymore!" She wasn't sure if Rukia would understand, but it wasn't important. What was important was that they reach Ichigo in time. 

The sight that greeted them when they reached Ichigo was nothing like what they were expecting. Her brother looked as puffed up on self-importance as ever, glaring down at the monster that crawled despondently at his feet. In one hand, a length of something slick looking hung nearly to the ground, in the other, he held a baseball bat, high over his shoulder. The look on his face had her reeling back, even as he took the bat to the creature's head one last time. "And that's for Yuichi!" 

* * *

The boy had been freed from the bird, Chad was being tended to in the clinic, and Ichigo sat in front of the two girls, scowling dangerously, bat still balanced precariously over his shoulder. "Here I thought that you were just getting Karin involved with the yakuza," he sighed. Rukia blinked at him, completely derailed. She had been prepared to argue with him over the need for Karin to fight the Hollows, but it seemed as though the Kurosakis liked throwing curveballs at her. Beside her, Karin began to preen, as if proud of the idea of being picked up by a gang. "And what it really was was that she ate your powers, now she has to do your job?" 

"Why would you put it that way?" Rukia asked, aghast. "And being a Soul Reaper is nothing like the yakuza, so... where did you even get that idea?" 

"Banging around all hours of the night," Ichigo began, ticking off points. "Being really secretive; wearing strange uniforms; carrying a sword, of all things, and yes, Karin, I did see you with it, and I was trying to give you a little distance. It all adds up to you getting her involved in something illegitimate. To think that you didn't think I would notice." He scoffed, shaking his head. "I'm the ghost magnet, remember? If there was anything to see, of course I would see it. I've started to see little monsters recently too. The one after Yuichi was the biggest one I've seen though..." 

"But... yakuza? I can see shady," she admitted, "but... seriously? Yakuza?" 

"Anything else I can think of that would fit the description would probably make me very angry," he intoned solemnly. "Unless you were cosplaying. Cosplaying is alright, I guess. I don't think I've seen any shows that could explain that outfit, though. Although... ninja. Maybe ninja would make sense." He smirked, just a little, like he was trying to downplay just how interesting he found the idea. 

Karin perked up and grinned. "I like that even better. I'm a ghost hunting ninja, Ichigo. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." Ichigo palmed his face and toppled over sideways, but Rukia could see the answering grin just before he had covered it up. 

"Not with that sword, you're not," Ichigo snorted, sitting back up. "It looks like a cheap prop from an anime."


	2. Step 2 - Acquire Magic Talking Animal Sidekick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain mod soul makes an appearance, and things escalate, as they do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Certain things are taken verbatim from the manga. Also, be aware, where Kon is concerned, there's some gender confusion, and the corresponding inconsistent pronouns.

Rukia waved what looked like a Pez dispenser under Karin's nose, to draw her attention. "I've asked Urahara-san to keep an eye on your brother, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about there. So get your head in the game! This Soul Candy should take care of some of the problems we've been having. For instance, I can't just drag your body around with us every time you need to leave it. Solution: An artificial soul to pretend to be you, until you can return to your body. It will also allow you to exit your body without my help, since I won't always able to reach you fast enough." 

Karin took the dispenser, and examined it with a faint frown. "Not that I have anything against ducks, but..." 

Rukia sighed. "I know. _I_ wanted a Chappy - that adorable bunny - but it seems that they were sold out. We'll just have to make do. This one should work just as well." 

It still looked like a Pez dispenser, no matter how many times Karin turned it in her hand. "Why would a bunny have made it better?" 

"I like bunnies," Rukia replied, matter of fact. "While it shouldn't affect the performance at all, Chappy's my favorite character." 

She pursed her lips and shrugged. If Rukia really thought it would help, she would try it. With that thought, she popped open the dispenser, and something shiny and round fell out, into her mouth. Instantly, she felt her soul separate from her body, and unlike in the past, her body didn't sink to the ground after the separation. 

" _Greetings, Master,_ " said her body, or rather, the thing in it, with a smile that didn't look right at all, not on her face. " _What are your orders?_

Karin pointed an accusing finger at her body. "No one is going to believe that that thing is me!" 

"It's an ideal personality, designed by the Seireitei's top scientists!" Rukia said, and really, that was the worst possible defense. 

"Nobody has 'an ideal personality'. There's no such thing." Karin scowled at it. Was she supposed to give it an order? Or was Rukia going to do that? "If there was, no one would like them. Can we have it keep an eye on Ichigo? I wouldn't want it to ruin my reputation at school." 

"No one would believe that's a real person," Yuzu suddenly piped up, and Karin flinched, having been so caught up in the reaper stuff that she had forgotten that her sister was there. 

Rukia frowned. "What do you mean?" 

"Have these scientists of yours actually talked to real humans? We don't act like that." Yuzu poked Karin's body, and the strange smile it wore dimmed slightly. Confusion seemed to glimmer in its eyes. "I wish Karin could just take her body with her, but I guess I have no choice in this. I'll keep an eye on... the artificial soul? What should I call it?" 

"Karin, at least, anywhere someone can overhear you." Rukia gave a small nod. "We have a alert to take care of, and then we'll be back. Try to remain unnoticed in the meantime." 

" _Of course,_ " the soul said, the weird smile firming again. As they left, Karin could have sworn she heard it say, "Take your time..." in a far more normal voice. 

* * *

"Ichigo. Ichigo." In spite of the prodding pencil, Ichigo wasn't going to look. Tatsuki wasn't usually the sort to pester him in class, but right now, she was being unusually annoying. "Ichigo!" Her hissing grew all the more insistent, until he finally gave in, with the best glare in his arsenal. 

"What?" he hissed back, turning, only to find her pointing out the window. 

"Isn't that your sister?" her tone didn't change at all, and she didn't drop her pointing finger until he looked. Which he did, even though the suggestion was ludicrous at best. 

When he saw it, he found himself wondering just what kind of weird shit Karin was involved in now. Mostly because that _wasn't_ his sister. At this distance, it sure looked like her, but there was no way Karin would do that where she could be seen. "No, it isn't," he whispered grimly. He coughed loudly and raised his hand to await the teacher's acknowledgement. Once he had it, he said, haltingly, as he struggled to find the right words, "Sensei, I need to go... talk to my... sister... about refraining from, uh, being crazy in public." 

Their sensei gave him a long, weighing stare. Whatever she gleaned from it, she looked pleasantly surprised. "Of course, Kurosaki-kun." 

* * *

Chasing down the thing in his sister’s body wasn’t easy. It _jumped_ , ridiculously high, from roof to roof, and the only thing Ichigo really had going for him was that he knew his way around these streets. He didn’t even know what he was going to say when he cornered it - assuming he even could. 

For shear asskicking ability, there weren’t many _humans_ that could beat him, or even outrun him, but whatever this thing was, it wasn’t human, and Ichigo was getting tired. Because, no matter what some assholes liked to claim, Ichigo was human. 100%, grade A, certified by fifteen years of experience, human. 

He skidded around another corner - Goat-Face was going to be pissed, because he was fucking up his shoes enough that he was going to need a new pair after this - and in an inspired fit, scrambled right up a wall quick enough that he managed to snag one skinny ankle as the doppelgänger tried to leap overhead. “Yeah! I got you!” 

He would have felt victorious, except... using his sister’s form or not, it looked scared. Somehow, he managed to convince it that he didn’t want to hurt it, and got it talking. It was still in Karin’s form - and Ichigo had a niggling suspicion about that, but wasn’t going to act on it until he knew enough details to put most of the big picture together. 

Eyes full of tears, it told him about something called “Project Spearhead” - a Soul Society effort to make modified artificial souls to fight Hollows. When the project was scrapped, all the mod konpaku were to be destroyed - and that was what the thing was: A mod konpaku, inhabiting Karin’s body. All they had wanted was to enjoy their freedom while it lasted. 

(In the past few minutes of conversation, he lost the ability to use “it” as a pronoun for the creature. They were a person now, and inhabiting his sister’s body or not, he also couldn’t quite bring himself to assume “she” was the right word. The gender of the body had been entirely chance. Until the mod konpaku was able to give him a name, and tell him whether they thought of themselves as having a gender at all, he would use “they”.) 

“So, they made you, then sentenced you to death for being exactly what they made you to be,” Ichigo surmised. That was wrong. It was really, really wrong. And now they would be found again. Taken in, and likely destroyed. _Killed_. For existing. He wished now that he knew more about Soul Society. He wasn’t certain he could trust Rukia to explain things to him. “I’m only human, but... I’m willing to stand in their way,” he told the mod konpaku. 

A shadow fell over him from behind, and a smooth, masculine voice said, “That’s unfortunate.” And Ichigo twisted around to stand between his sister’s body and whoever this was... who wasn’t alone. The speaker was probably the blond man in the bucket hat and geta, but there was a much larger man standing with him, as well as a couple of kids that Ichigo’s instincts told him were nearly as dangerous as the two men. And those two... His gut told him that he didn’t stand a chance if he chose to fight. 

Before the mod konpaku or Ichigo could react, the blond man flashed forward with a cane, right over Ichigo’s shoulder. Behind him, Karin’s body dropped to the ground, along with something that made a small tinkling sound as it hit the roof. His vision was muffled by dark green, and the blond interloper was far too close. So close that Ichigo’s nose was up against his shoulder. 

The man’s voice was incongruously gentle, with a quiet, “Pardon me,” that didn’t match the iron grip that appeared on Ichigo’s arm as soon as Ichigo tried to back away. There was something about this man that had Ichigo’s heart pounding in a near panic. And since he wasn’t letting Ichigo leave, his body settled for freezing up instead. 

“I got it, Urahara-san,” sang a girl’s voice, and the man reached out to presumably take the mod konpaku’s true form, which they _had_ described as a pill. 

“I really am sorry, Kurosaki-kun,” the blond started, 

Then Ichigo realized. _These_ were the people who were going to take away the mod konpaku. This man in particular, was taking them away, and all they were ever going to have was one afternoon of freedom before being killed? As far as he was concerned, Soul Society’s laws or not, it was murder. There was no way he was going to stand for this! 

All the frozen fear melted away under a blinding hot rage, and Ichigo jerked back just far enough to take a swing. 

* * *

Today had been ridiculous, even for a Soul Reaper. Karin wished that Rukia had warned her that days like this would happen. She was too young to be this stressed. 

First, there was the thing with the mod konpaku running off with her body. That had left Yuzu in tears, and Karin wanted to punch someone or something. Or kick it hard. Anyway, she spent half the day just trying to find her body, and when they finally found it, the second thing happened. 

It was that weird shopkeeper guy. He had a black eye and a sheepish look, and the _ugliest_ hat. And geta. Who even wore geta if they didn’t have to? Anyway, he and Rukia had gotten into this argument about him owing her a refund while Karin dropped back into her body. He vehemently denied owing her a refund, because, he said, the product had been stolen. 

The little redheaded boy that was with him snickered wildly at that, and Karin asked him what was so funny. It turned out, the product, i.e. the mod konpaku, had been stolen by someone who sounded an awful lot like Ichigo. Who had decked the shopkeeper guy - and that really did sound like Ichigo, didn’t it? - and ran off in a huff. 

Rukia, overhearing this, burst out laughing at the shopkeeper’s expense. “You got beat by a human teenager! This is amazing!” But she still wanted her refund. 

The shopkeeper stood his ground, which lead to the third thing. Rukia was in a foul mood by the time they got home. Ichigo was nowhere to be found, and Yuzu was still sniffling, “I couldn’t stop her from running off.” And even worse, Goat-Face was being quiet. That didn’t usually bode well. He kept looking out the window in between his usual bouts of crazy, such as grabbing up Yuzu and rubbing his stupid goat beard on her cheek until she stopped crying and complained instead. 

It was well after bed time when she heard Ichigo come home - through his bedroom window like some creeper. For a little while, he seemed to just meander back and forth, a soft rhythmic thudding that was soothing after the day she’d had. After a while, instead of heading to bed, his tread worked it’s way into the hallway, then stopped at the girls’ door. And it stayed stopped for long enough that Karin wiggled her way off the bed to meet him at the door. 

His hand was raised as though midknock when she cracked open the door. “What is it?” she hissed, and in the darkened hallway, she could barely make out how his eyes flickered to the side. 

By the time he brought himself to explain, Rukia and Yuzu were both behind her. “It’s about the mod konpaku,” he said. Then he shooed her back into her room with a hand that had a bandage across the knuckles. Soon, she and Yuzu were sitting, while Rukia stood off to the side with her arms crossed. “I think I solved the problem.” And he held out a small plush lion that hung limply in his hand. 

“How is a stuffed animal gonna help?” she asked, disappointed. Then she flailed backwards when it started moving. 

“I promise I’ll be good!” it whined, waving plush paws at her. “I just wanted to have a little fun before I died. Ichi-niisan says I can stay here if I’m good.” 

“Eh?” said Rukia, snatching the stuffed toy from her brother’s hand. “You put it in a toy? That’s an excellent idea!” 

“You aren’t going to turn Kon in?” Ichigo asked, eyeing her sidelong. “That’s what that asshole in the hat and geta was going to do.” 

“No, I...” Rukia covered a snigger with her free hand, then pointed at him with the stuffed animal. “You. You punched Urahara. You gave him a black eye!” 

It was hard to tell, but Ichigo was definitely blushing. Which was hilarious, given that he usually didn’t care about causing trouble like that. “He was going to take Kon away. To be destroyed. For _existing_. It’s _wrong_. Besides...” he continued in an unintelligable mumble. 

“What was that?” Karin asked, eyes narrowing. 

Ichigo coughed, tugged at his collar and tried to pretend he wasn’t turning even redder. “It’s just. I think he let me. That guy...” He shuddered dramatically. “If he was serious, I wouldn’t have gotten away with that. I’m not some super powered monster fighting Soul Reaper. I just. I can handle _humans_. That guy wasn’t human.” 

“You’re right,” said Rukia. “Urahara-san is a Soul Reaper as well, just a banished one. He already lives outside the law. Allowing a mod konpaku to run free won’t worsen things for him by much.” 

The mod konpaku, Kon, wasn’t saying anything at all. Karin reached out to take it from Rukia, who let go immediately. “So, Kon’s going to live with us too, now, right?” she asked, looking at the beady eyes of the plush. 

Immediately, it whined, “I promise I won’t make trouble. I can even still be used like a regular ginkongan. I promise not to run off with your body again!” 

“But can we trust you?” she asked it. 

“I owe Ichi-niisan my life,” it replied, it’s tone completely serious. “I promised him I wouldn’t cause any trouble, so I won’t.” 

“I think,” Yuzu said, causing everyone to look over at her, “it’s not a bad idea. If Kon can behave, and take notes for you when you have to run when you’re at school. And even high school girls carry around stuffed animals sometimes. So it won’t even look that weird.” 

Karin loved her sister. Yuzu was so sensible that she had to hug her. The sudden hug caused Yuzu to squeak, so Karin hugged her harder. 

* * *

The next day, not unexpectedly, Yuzu took Kon into the bath with her. The prospect of having a living plushy was too much. Still, Kon was treated well. Getting scrubbed clean in a hot bath, then being dried with the hair dryer. This was the high life. 

The ruffly dress was a bit much though. Kon was pretty sure her tastes didn’t run to ruffles. If she were human and could pick her own clothes... 

She sighed and let Yuzu do what she wanted. She should just be grateful that Yuzu wasn’t holding yesterday against her. Both girls, and even the Reaper, just took her word for it when she said that she owed Ichigo. And she _did_. She hadn’t been lying. But even though her life had been short so far, Kon knew that their reaction was naïve. 

She was going to help Karin because of _Ichigo_ though. Ichigo was the one who talked to her. The one who listened. The one who ultimately decided that she needed to be saved, even though she was running around in a stolen body. She just didn’t want their naïveté to hurt them. To hurt _him_. Because she was accepting all this for _him_. 

Still, this was rather nice. Fluffy ruffles and all. 

On the other hand, she was grateful when Karin came and took the ruffly doll dress off of her. “I’m not going to carry around a doll dressed like that.” She lifted Kon to face level, and frowned, just like her brother. “What about you? What would you like to wear?” 

Kon stared. She was being given a choice? “I don’t know,” she admitted. “All this is new to me. I don’t think I want the ruffles though.” She tried to make her plushy face look apologetic for Yuzu’s sake. “If I were human, I think I’d dress like you, or like Ichi-niisan. Maybe.” 

Yuzu looked thoughtful. “Wait. I just assumed you were a girl. Are you?” 

Blank stare. “I don’t know. Is this something you chose?” 

There was a soft, thoughtful hum from Karin. “Not usually, I don’t think. But... I didn’t think girl or boy. I mean, isn’t your true form that little pill? That means you aren’t either. But I guess it means you get to choose, too.” 

“Just be what you want to be. Or not. That’s what trans people do, right?” Yuzu had taken the doll dress, and was folding it up to put away. “I think that’s what they do anyway. It would be nice if someone told us.” 

“No kidding,” Karin agreed. “I guess in your case it doesn’t matter. Just remember when you’re in my body, you’ll have to deal with being a girl. Or at least pretending.” 

“She wouldn’t have to pretend very hard. Just be like a boy that uses the girls’ bathroom and you’ll be fine,” said Yuzu. She leaned over and fiddled with a bunch of stuff where she stowed away the doll dress, then pulled something else out. “How about this?” 

“This” appeared to be a red and black jacket, which Karin thought was great, and wasted no time pulling Kon’s arms into the sleeves of. It wasn’t bad, Kon decided. It was a lot better than the dress anyway. 

Then there was a rush to get down to breakfast - and for Yuzu to put the finishing touches on what she had set aside the night before. And there was Karin talking to Rukia with food in her mouth, Ichigo arguing loudly with an older man with black hair, a bristly face and a silly grin. Yuzu announcing it was time to eat, and Rukia taking gentle sips of tea. 

Kon wondered if this was what a family was.

**Author's Note:**

> Updates will be irregular, sorry. :) However, if you have questions, comments, prompts, that you would like to submit anonymously, you can always come to [my blog](http://asknotbug.tumblr.com) and drop me a line.


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